Always place your posts at the very top of the page so newcomers to the site can see the new posts first when the page loads, and insert a line between your posting and the next piece of text on the page.
Start your posts with the date of your posting, your name, and your school in BLD, for example: October 16, 2014 - Nadine - ISB.
Write a brief explanation why you like the book and to whom you would recommend it. You may also include hyperlinks to relevant websites
February 25, 2015- M. Rinker- Nanjing International School
The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer Holm
Eleven-year-old Ellie has never liked change. She misses fifth grade. She misses her old best friend. She even misses her dearly departed goldfish. Then one day a strange boy shows up. He's bossy. He's cranky. And weirdly enough . . . he looks a lot like Ellie's grandfather, a scientist who's always been slightly obsessed with immortality. Could this pimply boy really be Grandpa Melvin? Has he finally found the secret to eternal youth?
February 25 - Karen Klumpp - ICS - Will definitely place in ES and probably MS, too
Set against the backdrop of China's one-child policy, this emotional debut novel-in-verse reveals how one girl refuses to be left behind. (Kirkus Reviews)
Kara, eleven, has never met her birth mother. She was abandoned as an infant and taken by an American woman living in China. Living in Tianjin, she wonders why she and Mama cannot go live with Daddy in Montana. Kara discovers a secret about why she and Mama are in hiding. An accident with Mama's oldest daughter sets into motion a "roller-coaster" adoption process for Kara. She must decide to whom she belongs.
Sonnichsen draws upon firsthand experiences in volunteering to improve China's orphanages and adopting her own Chinese daughter. With spare, fluid language, she creates the endearing, authentic, nuanced emotions of a girl stuck between two worlds and brings to light a foundling's hope and determination. (Kirkus)
February 24- Julie Dotterer- AISG- don't know if this should go in middle or older readers--will put in both!
Starting at a new school is scary, even more so with a giant hearing aid strapped to your chest! At her old school, everyone in Cece's class was deaf. Here she is different. She is sure the kids are staring at the Phonic Ear, the powerful aid that will help her hear her teacher. Too bad it also seems certain to repel potential friends.
Then Cece makes a startling discovery. With the Phonic Ear she can hear her teacher not just in the classroom, but anywhere her teacher is in school--in the hallway...in the teacher's lounge...in the bathroom! This is power. Maybe even superpower! Cece is on her way to becoming El Deafo, Listener for All. But the funny thing about being a superhero is that it's just another way of feeling different... and lonely. Can Cece channel her powers into finding the thing she wants most, a true friend?
This funny perceptive graphic novel memoir about growing up hearing impaired is also an unforgettable book about growing up, and all the super and super embarrassing moments along the way. (less)
El Deafo by Cece Bell — Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, ListsStarting at a new school is scary, even more so with a giant hearing aid strapped to your chest! At her old school, everyone in Cece's cl...Read more...
I'm buried in books. About 30 to be exact. Err... about and exact contradict each other. Oh well. Just wind me up for the holidays and watch me SPIN. El Deafo was on my return-pile-so-other-children-can-read-it-over-the-holiday stack. Then I made the mistake of peeking at the first page. Suddenly I'm at page 20 thinking... uh-oh, I won't be able to put this down. I'm a reading junkie. What can I say? A snatch of reading here and there before finishing off this terrific graphic novel on the treadmill in the evening made for a satisfying day. Four-year-old Cece gets meningitis and goes deaf. Hearing aids make her feel like Spock at school and while she adjusts to them she is worried she won't ever have a friend that sees past them to her true self. This author's biography gives a unique look at a deaf person's perspective of how others treat people that are deaf and challenges faced in everyday life. The mix of humor, drama, and an uncommon topic in children's books make this a must for your library.
Her first friend is bossy and possessive, but Cece likes that she doesn't care that she has a hearing aid. Her next friend talks loud and slow to her making an issue out of her deafness. Her third friend is "just right" and never even mentions her hearing aid, treating her like a true friend. When an accident happens her true friend freaks out and it takes over a year for the two to reconcile. Later when she does figure out a way to make her hearing aid "cool" with the kids in class, it is a freeing moment for her where the reader is cheering along with her classmates. Make sure you read the author's note at the end where Cece explains how deaf people embrace their deafness and that there is no right or wrong way. Last year, Vince Vawter of "Paperboy" said that his "was a story that needed to be told." Cece Bell could say the same thing. It is not only worth telling, it is worth hearing.
February 12- Nadine Rosevear ISB Operation Bunny by Sally Gardner c2014 - mystery Abandoned in a hatbox at Stansted Airport, infant Emily Vole is impulsively adopted by Daisy and Ronald Dashwood, deliciously nasty literary cousins to Roald Dahl's Wormwoods. After the birth of their own triplets, the Dashwoods demote Emily to Cinderella status, forcing her to work as their nanny and housekeeper and to sleep on the ironing board in the laundry room. Fortunately, when Emily is nearly nine, an elderly neighbor, Miss String, and her large talking cat, Fidget, change everything. Soon the stalwart Emily is neck-deep in magical doings -- figuring out her new role as the Keeper of the Keys (a lively sentient bunch), tracking down a mysterious shop she has inherited, and thwarting a witch who turns people into unlikely-hued rabbits. And speaking of transformed rabbits, Roberts captures perfectly their nose-twitching confusion as well as Emily's wide-eyed awe and more in a profusion of black-and-white full-page and spot-art illustrations.
Absolutely almost by Lisa Graf c2014 - realistic fiction
In a tale about not being good enough, Graff introduces readers to a young hero who struggles to measure up. Graff, whose A Tangle of Knots was on the 2013 National Book Award longlist, here gracefully fuses heartache with a gentle humor and candor.Life is stressful for Albie. Mom and Dad struggle to understand him, and his grandpa Park creates tension with his withering appraisal. When he gets kicked out of his pricey Manhattan private school due to academic shortcomings, Albie must deal with his parents' outbursts and his own dizzying emotions. This marks a turning point, though; with his move to P.S. 183, he gains an ally in a fellow outcast, the stuttering Betsy, and his new babysitter, free-wheeling art student Calista, listens to him in a way the other adults in his life do not. These relationships carry him through some improbable plot twists into understanding and self-acceptance. The prose is sparse, simple and conversational, capturing turmoil both internal and external perfectly: "Potential. Struggling. Achievement gap. [These are words] that make my dad slam his fist on the table and call my teacher to shout...and my mom to go out and buy fruit. When Mom comes back with strawberries, her face is always crystal clear. Not an almost-crying face at all. I used to really like strawberries."
Rain reign by Ann M. Martin c2014 - realistic fiction Eleven-year-old Rose's "official diagnosis is high-functioning autism." She lives with her single dad, who does not have the resources, material or emotional, to be a parent. At school she is laughed at by her classmates. Her life works, but just barely. Uncle Weldon has her back; she is soothed by her ongoing collection of homonyms; and, best of all, she has Rain, her dog. This fragile contentment is shattered by Hurricane Susan, during which Rain disappears. A bad dad, a missing dog--this could be a tearjerker. It isn't. Rose is a character we root for every step of the way. She is resilient, honest, and, in her own odd way, very perceptive; a most reliable narrator. The plot here is uncontrived, the resolution completely earned, and the style whole-grain simple until it blossoms into a final sentence of homonymic joy: "I stand up, then squint my eyes shut for (fore/four) a moment, remembering the night (knight) with Uncle Weldon when music soared (sword) through (threw) the air (heir), and the notes and the sky and our (hour) hearts were one (won)."
The thickety by J.A.White c2014 - fantasy When Kara was just a child, she was accused of witchcraft and forced to watch her mother executed for the same crime. Ever after, she and her family have lived in their isolated theocratic community as pariahs. Now 12 (though mature beyond her years), Kara stoically tries to hold everything together for her sickly brother. It all starts to unravel when she’s summoned to the deep wood, called Thickety, where she finds a dangerous grimoire that awakens her magical abilities. But her magic comes with a price, and soon she’s not the only one trying to harness its addictive spells. In spare prose, debut author White follows Kara as she discovers sinister forces at work in her community and strives to combat the temptation to use her power for nefarious ends. Though much of the intriguing world, including Thickety, is left unexplored, an unsettling twist ending leaves a creaking door open for more stories. White’s persistent dark imagery, along with Offermann’s eerie silhouette spot illustrations, adds to the overall dark atmosphere.
Nuts to you by Lynne Rae Perkins c2014 - adventure Jed the squirrel escapes a hawk (using an "ancient squirrel defensive martial art") and so begins his journey home. Meanwhile, his best friends Chai and TsTs set off to find him. The three make it safely home only to face their biggest challenge: convincing their conservative community to relocate before humans destroy their homes. Part satire, part environmental fable, and all playful, energetic hilarity.
February 4th, 2015 - Karen Astill - HISB Boy on the Porch by Sharon Creech
On a rural American farm, an isolated couple finds a mute, mysterious, and artistic boy (who could be six, seven, or eight) abandoned on their porch. The longer he stays with them, the more his various talents become apparent and the more attached they become. They dread the day someone might come back to claim him. A story of finding a family when you least expect it. Told from the adults perspective.
February 3, 2015 - Isolde Rosevear - German Swiss International School Hong Kong Sisters by Raina Telgemeier
The reach of this story in terms of audience is amazing. It resonates with everyone, from elementary schoolers to grown ups. Raina Telgemeier's books seem to be universally loved and are instantly popular even for students unfamiliar with the graphic novel format (like my kids). I think she's continuing that pattern with 'Sisters'!
February 3, 2015- Michelle- Nanjing International School (seconded by Rachella, WAB) :)
El Deafo by Cece Bell (2014) A graphic novel memoir of author/illustrator Cece Bell who grew up hearing impaired. SLJ Review- Grades 2-6
How to post a nomination
February 25, 2015- M. Rinker- Nanjing International School
The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer Holm
Eleven-year-old Ellie has never liked change. She misses fifth grade. She misses her old best friend. She even misses her dearly departed goldfish. Then one day a strange boy shows up. He's bossy. He's cranky. And weirdly enough . . . he looks a lot like Ellie's grandfather, a scientist who's always been slightly obsessed with immortality. Could this pimply boy really be Grandpa Melvin? Has he finally found the secret to eternal youth?February 25 - Karen Klumpp - ICS - Will definitely place in ES and probably MS, too
Red Butterfly
by A.L. Sonnichsen (c2015)Set against the backdrop of China's one-child policy, this emotional debut novel-in-verse reveals how one girl refuses to be left behind. (Kirkus Reviews)
Kara, eleven, has never met her birth mother. She was abandoned as an infant and taken by an American woman living in China. Living in Tianjin, she wonders why she and Mama cannot go live with Daddy in Montana. Kara discovers a secret about why she and Mama are in hiding. An accident with Mama's oldest daughter sets into motion a "roller-coaster" adoption process for Kara. She must decide to whom she belongs.
Sonnichsen draws upon firsthand experiences in volunteering to improve China's orphanages and adopting her own Chinese daughter. With spare, fluid language, she creates the endearing, authentic, nuanced emotions of a girl stuck between two worlds and brings to light a foundling's hope and determination. (Kirkus)
February 24- Julie Dotterer- AISG- don't know if this should go in middle or older readers--will put in both!
El Deafo
by Cece Bell (Goodreads Author)Starting at a new school is scary, even more so with a giant hearing aid strapped to your chest! At her old school, everyone in Cece's class was deaf. Here she is different. She is sure the kids are staring at the Phonic Ear, the powerful aid that will help her hear her teacher. Too bad it also seems certain to repel potential friends.
Then Cece makes a startling discovery. With the Phonic Ear she can hear her teacher not just in the classroom, but anywhere her teacher is in school--in the hallway...in the teacher's lounge...in the bathroom! This is power. Maybe even superpower! Cece is on her way to becoming El Deafo, Listener for All. But the funny thing about being a superhero is that it's just another way of feeling different... and lonely. Can Cece channel her powers into finding the thing she wants most, a true friend?
This funny perceptive graphic novel memoir about growing up hearing impaired is also an unforgettable book about growing up, and all the super and super embarrassing moments along the way. (less)
I'm buried in books. About 30 to be exact. Err... about and exact contradict each other. Oh well. Just wind me up for the holidays and watch me SPIN. El Deafo was on my return-pile-so-other-children-can-read-it-over-the-holiday stack. Then I made the mistake of peeking at the first page. Suddenly I'm at page 20 thinking... uh-oh, I won't be able to put this down. I'm a reading junkie. What can I say? A snatch of reading here and there before finishing off this terrific graphic novel on the treadmill in the evening made for a satisfying day. Four-year-old Cece gets meningitis and goes deaf. Hearing aids make her feel like Spock at school and while she adjusts to them she is worried she won't ever have a friend that sees past them to her true self. This author's biography gives a unique look at a deaf person's perspective of how others treat people that are deaf and challenges faced in everyday life. The mix of humor, drama, and an uncommon topic in children's books make this a must for your library.
Her first friend is bossy and possessive, but Cece likes that she doesn't care that she has a hearing aid. Her next friend talks loud and slow to her making an issue out of her deafness. Her third friend is "just right" and never even mentions her hearing aid, treating her like a true friend. When an accident happens her true friend freaks out and it takes over a year for the two to reconcile. Later when she does figure out a way to make her hearing aid "cool" with the kids in class, it is a freeing moment for her where the reader is cheering along with her classmates. Make sure you read the author's note at the end where Cece explains how deaf people embrace their deafness and that there is no right or wrong way. Last year, Vince Vawter of "Paperboy" said that his "was a story that needed to be told." Cece Bell could say the same thing. It is not only worth telling, it is worth hearing.
February 12- Nadine Rosevear ISB
Operation Bunny by Sally Gardner c2014 - mystery
Abandoned in a hatbox at Stansted Airport, infant Emily Vole is impulsively adopted by Daisy and Ronald Dashwood, deliciously nasty literary cousins to Roald Dahl's Wormwoods. After the birth of their own triplets, the Dashwoods demote Emily to Cinderella status, forcing her to work as their nanny and housekeeper and to sleep on the ironing board in the laundry room. Fortunately, when Emily is nearly nine, an elderly neighbor, Miss String, and her large talking cat, Fidget, change everything. Soon the stalwart Emily is neck-deep in magical doings -- figuring out her new role as the Keeper of the Keys (a lively sentient bunch), tracking down a mysterious shop she has inherited, and thwarting a witch who turns people into unlikely-hued rabbits. And speaking of transformed rabbits, Roberts captures perfectly their nose-twitching confusion as well as Emily's wide-eyed awe and more in a profusion of black-and-white full-page and spot-art illustrations.
Absolutely almost by Lisa Graf c2014 - realistic fiction
In a tale about not being good enough, Graff introduces readers to a young hero who struggles to measure up. Graff, whose A Tangle of Knots was on the 2013 National Book Award longlist, here gracefully fuses heartache with a gentle humor and candor.Life is stressful for Albie. Mom and Dad struggle to understand him, and his grandpa Park creates tension with his withering appraisal. When he gets kicked out of his pricey Manhattan private school due to academic shortcomings, Albie must deal with his parents' outbursts and his own dizzying emotions. This marks a turning point, though; with his move to P.S. 183, he gains an ally in a fellow outcast, the stuttering Betsy, and his new babysitter, free-wheeling art student Calista, listens to him in a way the other adults in his life do not. These relationships carry him through some improbable plot twists into understanding and self-acceptance. The prose is sparse, simple and conversational, capturing turmoil both internal and external perfectly: "Potential. Struggling. Achievement gap. [These are words] that make my dad slam his fist on the table and call my teacher to shout...and my mom to go out and buy fruit. When Mom comes back with strawberries, her face is always crystal clear. Not an almost-crying face at all. I used to really like strawberries."
Rain reign by Ann M. Martin c2014 - realistic fiction
Eleven-year-old Rose's "official diagnosis is high-functioning autism." She lives with her single dad, who does not have the resources, material or emotional, to be a parent. At school she is laughed at by her classmates. Her life works, but just barely. Uncle Weldon has her back; she is soothed by her ongoing collection of homonyms; and, best of all, she has Rain, her dog. This fragile contentment is shattered by Hurricane Susan, during which Rain disappears. A bad dad, a missing dog--this could be a tearjerker. It isn't. Rose is a character we root for every step of the way. She is resilient, honest, and, in her own odd way, very perceptive; a most reliable narrator. The plot here is uncontrived, the resolution completely earned, and the style whole-grain simple until it blossoms into a final sentence of homonymic joy: "I stand up, then squint my eyes shut for (fore/four) a moment, remembering the night (knight) with Uncle Weldon when music soared (sword) through (threw) the air (heir), and the notes and the sky and our (hour) hearts were one (won)."
The thickety by J.A.White c2014 - fantasy
When Kara was just a child, she was accused of witchcraft and forced to watch her mother executed for the same crime. Ever after, she and her family have lived in their isolated theocratic community as pariahs. Now 12 (though mature beyond her years), Kara stoically tries to hold everything together for her sickly brother. It all starts to unravel when she’s summoned to the deep wood, called Thickety, where she finds a dangerous grimoire that awakens her magical abilities. But her magic comes with a price, and soon she’s not the only one trying to harness its addictive spells. In spare prose, debut author White follows Kara as she discovers sinister forces at work in her community and strives to combat the temptation to use her power for nefarious ends. Though much of the intriguing world, including Thickety, is left unexplored, an unsettling twist ending leaves a creaking door open for more stories. White’s persistent dark imagery, along with Offermann’s eerie silhouette spot illustrations, adds to the overall dark atmosphere.
Nuts to you by Lynne Rae Perkins c2014 - adventure
Jed the squirrel escapes a hawk (using an "ancient squirrel defensive martial art") and so begins his journey home. Meanwhile, his best friends Chai and TsTs set off to find him. The three make it safely home only to face their biggest challenge: convincing their conservative community to relocate before humans destroy their homes. Part satire, part environmental fable, and all playful, energetic hilarity.
February 4th, 2015 - Karen Astill - HISB
Boy on the Porch by Sharon Creech
On a rural American farm, an isolated couple finds a mute, mysterious, and artistic boy (who could be six, seven, or eight) abandoned on their porch. The longer he stays with them, the more his various talents become apparent and the more attached they become. They dread the day someone might come back to claim him. A story of finding a family when you least expect it. Told from the adults perspective.
February 3, 2015 - Isolde Rosevear - German Swiss International School Hong Kong
Sisters by Raina Telgemeier
The reach of this story in terms of audience is amazing. It resonates with everyone, from elementary schoolers to grown ups. Raina Telgemeier's books seem to be universally loved and are instantly popular even for students unfamiliar with the graphic novel format (like my kids). I think she's continuing that pattern with 'Sisters'!
February 3, 2015- Michelle- Nanjing International School (seconded by Rachella, WAB) :)
El Deafo by Cece Bell (2014)
A graphic novel memoir of author/illustrator Cece Bell who grew up hearing impaired.
SLJ Review- Grades 2-6